title: The ins and outs of heterochromatic DNA repair.
abstract: Repetitive DNA is often packaged into heterochromatin structures that prevent illicit recombination events that cause genomic instability. A recent study by Chiolo et al. (2011) published in Cell finds that DNA double-strand breaks formed within heterochromatin are shuttled to adjacent sites that are "safe" to complete repair by recombination.
authors.affiliation: Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 373 Plantation Street, Worcester, MA 01605, USA. craig.peterson@umassmed.edu
authors.forename: Craig L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Peterson